The publishing industry is in transition and I expect every major publishing house executive is fully aware of the fact. It is patently absurd to suggest big print publishers are anywhere other than the 21st century; not that they need me to be defending them (they’re big boys and girls).

Yes, some terrible errors of judgement are being made: the pricing debate is but one example. Publishers ought to focus on their value proposition, not price.

But they are also getting some things very right: discussions around ‘books as a service’ are incredibly encouraging.

If anyone out there knows how to transition a monolithic industry like publishing from print to bytes then get to it ‘cos you’ll make a stupid amount of money.